Why Vancouver Wants to Change the City Charter:In 2004, Justice Tom Berger recommended that Vancouver City Council "petition the provincial government to change the Charter in order to give the City greater flexibility in designing [an electoral] system that best meets the needs and expectations of its citizens, as these change over time. This increasing empowerment of municipalities appears to be the emerging trend".Council agreed with Berger, and asked for Charter changes five times under three different mayors from three different parties, with unanimous cross-partisan support each time, but Victoria has consistently ignored the city's repeated requests. After 10 years, it's well past time for Victoria to finally give Vancouver the power it needs to run fairer elections.﻿

Endorsements

“The City of Vancouver is in desperate need of electoral reform to counteract declining voter turnout and highly undemocratic election funding trends.” – Former Councilor Peter Ladner, May 2013

“Canada’s cities face increasing challenges and need more freedom to shape their election practices to better engage citizens and inspire trust. It’s well past time for Vancouver to be granted this power” – Senator and Former Mayor Larry Campbell, Apr 2013

“The current rules are out of date with the types of elections being run in Vancouver. It’s time the Province took major steps to increase the fairness and transparency of local elections.” – Mayor Gregor Robertson (Jan 2﻿012)

“The Provincial Government controls the municipal elections laws and have failed to make much-needed changes despite a decade of requests from Vancouver Councillors.” – Councillor Andrea Reimer (Jan 2012)

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